Lillian Colón: Passion and perseverance
Lillian Colón demonstrates her iconic Rockette high kick. Colón has been choreographing the Winter musical “In the Heights” since early December, working with the cast and dance corp.
February 2, 2022
Behind the closed doors of the Experimental Theater during the co-curricular hour, rich Latin-based music plays, rhythmic tapping from dance shoes hitting the floor echoes throughout the theater and excitement erupts after each new dance is taught as students work on learning the choreography of the winter musical, “In the Heights”.
This year, the winter production is being choreographed by Lillian Colón, a former professional dancer who is no stranger to success. She has been dancing all her life and has accomplished many great things throughout her career. This is her story.
Colón was born to Puerto Rican parents and raised in New York. At three years old, she was put into Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Home for children, an orphanage in the Bronx where she lived until the age of 18. At the orphanage, a dance teacher was brought in once or twice a month to teach dance classes to the children. At her first lesson, Colón said she fell in love with the art of dance.
“I took to it immediately.” Colón recalled. “I loved it, just loved it. And I knew this is what I wanted to do: to become a professional dancer. And I never changed my mind.”
Discovering her passion for dance at an early age, Colón was eager to leave the orphanage and pursue her dream to dance professionally on the stages of Broadway and beyond. So she set off on her own to begin her career in dance.
“The first highlight in my career was performing West Side Story at Lincoln Center. It was the first time I was in a professional company. From there, I did lots of nightclub work and I moved to Mexico and got a job dancing in Mexico City. I did a movie, a lot of television work and even had my own show there,” Colón said. “Eventually, a choreographer I worked with in Mexico offered me a job as his assistant for Menudo, a Puerto Rican boy band with Ricky Martin. I became their choreographer and traveled all over Latinóamerica.”
After working with Menudo for a few years and traveling throughout South America, Colón moved back to New York, ready for her big Broadway break. That’s when a dream role presented itself: the Radio City Rockettes were holding auditions to hire new girls.
“Rockettes rarely open for auditions on an open call basis because it’s such a coveted spot to be a Rockette. Nobody would leave that job, it’s too amazing to leave!” Colón explained. “But one year, in 1987, there was turnover and they needed new girls. So I auditioned with 400 other girls and I got down to the end.”
Colón landed a job with Chita Rivera and the Rockettes in “Can-Can” and toured with this job for almost two years. When she returned to New York in 1990, she landed the Christmas Spectacular show, making Colón the first Latina Rockette and opening doors for thousands of other aspiring Latino dancers.
“I didn’t even know that I was the first Latina Rockette at first, I just felt like one of the other girls. But being recognized as the first Latina Rockette has been the highlight of my life,” she said.
Most recently, at the age of sixty-five, Colón came out of retirement and was featured as a dancer in the 2021 movie adaptation of “In The Heights”. She expressed her love for this production.
“I love this musical. I love all of the songs. And I love that it highlights Latinos. I myself have auditioned for “In The Heights” for Broadway, for regional theater, really any theater that was putting the show on. I knew I wanted to audition for the movie.”
Colón went to the open call auditions for the movie in November of 2019 where the age range for people to audition was 20-65. But when going to the call, she immediately saw that she was the only older woman there.
“When I walked into the auditions, everyone in the room looked like what I looked like 30 years ago. They had black curly hair, red lipstick, big hoop earrings, midriffs out. Looking as fabulous as Latinas can look. And I was intimidated! And I was thinking about leaving, but I stayed. I really wanted to meet Lin-Manuel!” she said. “I didn’t hear from them until around April. I had forgotten all about it and didn’t think I got the part, but they called me asking me to come to rehearsals. I couldn’t believe it!”
Colóns dedication to her career and her performance in the movie was even recognized by Forbes magazine, as she was chosen for the Forbes 50 over 50 list. This list was created to shine a light on women over the age of 50 who have achieved significant success and can be seen as an inspiration to younger women. Colón was honored at a luncheon with the other 50 over 50 women and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden.
“This little Puerto Rican girl at the orphanage many years ago never thought for a moment that I would ever be in the presence of a First Lady. But these are the heights that we can get to now,” Colón said.
Now, back in semi-retirement, Colón is adamant about finding new ways to pursue her passion for dance. She wrote a memoir about her life and career entitled “Lilly: The First Latina Rockette” to share her story with the world. The memoir is set to come out very soon, and Colón said she couldn’t wait to see it published. She has also been choreographing Master’s Winter production of “In The Heights” since early December, working with members of Dance Company who form the production’s Dance Corp and the cast of the musical daily.
Chair of the Department of Performing Arts Jen Carnevale, along with Upper School Theater Teacher Meg O’Connor and Upper School Dance Teacher Shell Benjamin, had known even before the musical was even chosen that Masters would be hiring a choreographer from outside of the school. This is because Middle School Drama teacher Jason Reiff, the teacher who typically choreographs the Winter musical, will instead be spending this time implementing more dance programs in the Middle School. This gave the DoPA department the opportunity to bring Colón and her expertise to Masters.
“We knew from the beginning that we wanted a latinx choreographer. With all the latin dance forms in the production, it had to be someone for whom this music was in their DNA,” Carnevale said. “Then one day, Ms. O’Connor, Ms. Benjamin and I were working on a DEI presentation when Ms. Benjamin suddenly said ‘I got it!’ She had reached out to a friend who knew Ms. Colón. We read her biography and the article Forbes magazine wrote about her, and we just knew we wanted her here. Her story is simply amazing, and we really wanted to meet this woman.”
Soon after, Colón was invited to the Dance Company Concert in Nov. for a chance to watch the students dance, to get a feel for the community and to meet Carnevale, O’Connor and Benjamin. The DoPA department felt that she would be a great fit.
“It was sort of like a gift from the heavens, and a gift from Ms. Benjamin, because she was the one who found her. We are incredibly lucky.” Carnevale stated.
Not only has Colón conveyed excitement for working with the students, but also the musical numbers she is excited to choreograph and teach.
“The opening number is just to die for. It’s fast, it’s rhythmic, it’s got all the Latin beats that we really want!” she said. “I am also very excited to choreograph “Carnaval del Barrio”. Because that song has el orgullo – the pride – of the Latin people. And at The Masters School, I think the flag mentioned in the song belongs to everybody.”
Senior Natalia Curnin-Shane, one of the production’s stage managers, has been working closely with Colón and the dance corp throughout the musical season. She has loved being able to learn from a professional of the show business industry.
“She has been a pinnacle of professionalism and an amazing example of quiet teacherhood. Just through her movement, just through her dance, she imparts a lot of craft and a lot of art. Working with a professional like her is just an incredible opportunity to learn focus and discipline,” Curnin-Shane said. “Some of the things I’ve seen these dancers do this year is just mind blowing. I’ve never seen people pick up choreography this fast, I’ve never seen people do such complex movements so fast. It’s amazing!”
Sophomore Christina Moore, one of the members of the musicals Dance Corp, has enjoyed the fast-paced rehearsals and complex choreography.
“It has been really inspiring to work with Ms. Colón because of all of her experience in the dance world. She is an incredible dancer and performer and we’re grateful to have her here.” she said. “This is probably the most difficult choreography I have ever done and the songs are so exciting. I think everyone is going to love it!”
Freshman Juan Torres, another member of the Dance Corp, echoed Moore’s sentiments.
“She [Colón] is so understanding and patient. I remember on the first day of rehearsals, I fell and I was nervous that she was going to be upset about it. But she just encouraged me to get back up and keep dancing. She really took the time to teach me the combination and make sure that I got it.”
To all the aspiring professional dancers at Masters, Colón advises all to go for their dreams and persist through hardships: “You have to persevere and work hard. You don’t have another option. Perseverance is the most important thing to carry with you in a dance career. Because it’s not easy, I can tell you that for sure.”
